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Example of Podiatry in Action
Quintic
– The Digital Gait Analysis System for the Podiatrist
Richard M. Callaghan D.Pod.M., M.Ch.S., S.R.Ch.
"Quintic is a digital video system that can be easily adapted for the podiatrist
and due to its portability could be moved between clinics or
even taken onto the sports field. As a private practitioner
of some 19 years standing, I had often longed for an affordable,
simple to use video system that could produce instant images
in a clinical situation.
A unique feature of the Quintic system
is that once a video clip has been saved it can be downloaded
onto a laptop, and run side by side with another video clip,
synchronizing them together so that differences can be noted.
Event markers can be saved, for example heel strike, toe
off allowing the timing function to calculate differences
in stride frequency. Angles can be measured from the horizontal
or the perpendicular along with vertical and horizontal
alignment guides. Taking this a step further,the Quintic system can also calculate speeds and accelerations
of anatomical points of the body automatically. |
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In the same way knee flexion and
ankle joint dorsiflexion etc can be measured from a sagittal
view. The system is proving invaluable in patient education;
never before have my patients truly understood what an orthosis
can do. I can now play back clips of before and after treatment
so that they can see the resultant reduction in frontal plane
motion of the foot or a slowing of knee rotation.The use of the
system in paediatrics has proved particularly beneficial:
Parents are impressed to see the developmental changes between
six monthly visits. It is very much more convincing to see
the difference between the two images and measure them on
screen than to try and explain that the genu valgum has
reduced by 2cm! The child that won't co-operate or sit still
can be filmed during their consultation and pertinent measurements
can be taken in stance. It is also useful to record such
features as internal and external rotation for future visual
comparison.
As a podiatrist to Warwickshire
County Cricket Club for seven seasons it has always been
a case of waiting until a player is injured before intervening.
The image on the right shows a single frame that captured
Allan Richardson's potential for injury on the right foot
(back foot contact) and he has since worn orthoses as a
preventative measure. The software has been continually
modified in the last six months and it is now possible to
calibrate the system so that distances, speed and acceleration
can be measured either of an end object such as a cricket
ball or in the image above, anatomical landmarks such as
the left hallux. A results table can also be drawn up and
gives a numerical representation frame by frame which can
be transposed into Microsoft Excel for research purposes.
There is also the ability to capture
one, four, six, nine, twelve or eighteen frames and print them to supplement patient
notes or produce player profiles etc. Still pictures can be
saved on floppy discs or video clips on CD ROM. These can be
mailed or taken by patients to other interested health care
professionals or coaches who are involved with the patient management. |
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Combine Quintic with RSscan International footscan®
software
RSscan INTERNATIONAL's products
are applied in the fields of orthopedics, shoe manufacturing,
sports medicine, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, podiatry, chiropody
and biomechanics.
Why use pressure distribution in sport movement
analysis?
- film or video analysis provides additional
Information on velocities and accelerations of body parts
– combine RS scan and Quintic for instant biomechanical feedback.
- footscan® plates offer information on the
interaction between sportsperson and the ground measured upto
500 times a second (500Hz).
- shift of body weight is represented by the
path that the center of pressure follows.
- footscan® plate and insole measurements offer
a clear view of the pressure distribution underneath the foot
: a movie made up of consecutive 3D-images is displayed.
- advanced analysis with pressure or force-time
curves of the whole foot or parts of it.
- footscan® insoles offer information on the
interaction between the foot on one hand and shoe and supporting
surface on the other hand.
| Measuring a foot by footscan®
plates will give you information about the pressure underneath
the barefoot or shoe while performing a sport skill. footscan®
plates are available at a length of up to 2.5m. This means
that a person can just sprint freely without the need to
target the platform. RS scan footscan® insoles can be used for more sport
skills than footscan® plates: pressures exerted during bicycling,
skating, skiing, golf swing etc. can be measured. On the 1,
2 and 2.5m footscan® plates, subjects can take more than one
step. Two consecutive steps can be recorded in one measurement.
The software is multistep: two consecutive steps can be analyzed
simultaneously. The pressure-time curves help to analyze different
techniques or shoes. |
- pressure distribution from heel strike
to toe off.
- pressure time curves for the whole
foot software takes some spots as a standard, which
you can adjust.
- force time curves for the whole foot
software takes some areas as a standard, which you can
adjust.
- Scientific gives you shear indication,
rate of load of pressures.
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3D-option which
includes a box to which a force platform, for example AMTI
or KISTLER, can be connected. The 3D-option includes a box
to which another measuring device, like EMG, video, infrared
motion capturing, force platform can be connected, making
synchronization feasible.
- The polymer sensors measure 5 mm to 7 mm
- A resolution of almost 4 sensors per cm2
- Insoles: depending on shoe size: approx.
350 sensors per sole
- Plates: in the smallest plate (50 cm length):
4096 sensors
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All Quintic video
files, graph and data displays can be synchronised with
RS scan data. Therefore allowing the user to access the
pressure, weight distribution and centre of mass measurements
synchronised with the video images.
For further information about
RS scan International : www.rsscan.com
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